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Friday 20 June 2025
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for what we mean by Science Fiction; here for the masthead; here for some Statistics; here for the Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
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Forsyth, Frederick
(1938-2025) UK author who gained fame with his first novel, The Day of the Jackal (1971), and whose books are generally political thrillers. The Shepherd (1975 chap), however, is a sentimental Timeslip or ghost fantasy in which a pilot on Christmas Eve 1957 is saved from crashing by a World War Two pilot in an antique bomber: pilot and plane had been shot down on the Christmas Eve of 1943. ...
McDowall, Alistair
(1987- ) UK playwright whose plays tend to incorporate elements of Fantastika into plots often set in North-East England, with an effect of gonzo spoofery. Brilliant Adventures (performed May 2013 Royal Exchange, Manchester; 2013 chap) uses the device of a Time Machine to generate farcical encounters now and in the Near Future; Captain Amazing (August 2013 ...
Quick, Jonathan
Pseudonym (playing on Jonathan Swift) of UK authors Cecil Eldred Hughes (1875-1941) and Harold Begbie, who see for details. [JC]
Mirror's Edge
Videogame (2008). Digital Illusions CE. Designed by Thomas Andersson. Platforms: PS3, XB360 (2008); Win (2009). / Mirror's Edge is a platform game (see Videogames) which is displayed using three-dimensional graphics. Unusually for a Videogame which depends on the "platform" mechanics of jumping and climbing, events are seen from the protagonist's perspective rather than from ...
Schmidt, Dennis
(1939-2003) US author who restricted himself almost exclusively to series during his short active career; although he began publishing work of genre interest with "Seeker of the Way" in Galaxy for October 1976, the tale was a prelude to the three volumes of the Kensho sequence – Way-Farer (1978), Kensho (1979), Satori (1981) and Wanderer (1985) – which features a protagonist who combines Zen ...
Robinson, Roger
(1943- ) UK computer programmer, bibliographer and publisher, active in UK Fandom for many years. The Writings of Henry Kenneth Bulmer (1983 chap; rev 1984 chap) is an exhaustive Bibliography of one of the most prolific sf writers, Kenneth Bulmer, and Who's Hugh?: An SF Reader's Guide to Pseudonyms (1987) is similarly exhaustive in its ...